The Francis factor: Pope’s economic ideas rattle GOP

It’s unclear whether Francis’s views will fray the ties between the right and the Vatican. | Reuters

“He’s entitled to his opinion, but I think we should look carefully at what he’s saying,” Toomey said. “It’s easy to draw I think what could be mistaken, superficial conclusions from some of the things that he said. I think he’s a wonderful leader for the church.”

In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a Catholic who is considered a possible presidential contender in 2016, noted that the pope’s background isn’t in American capitalism. “The guy is from Argentina, they haven’t had real capitalism in Argentina,” Ryan said. “They have crony capitalism in Argentina. They don’t have a true free enterprise system.”

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Ryan added: “What I love about the pope is he is triggering the exact kind of dialogue we ought to be having.”

For Democrats, Francis has been a gift. Just as the liberal base and President Barack Obama have begun talking more about income inequality, along comes the pope to boost their cause.

“I love this pope,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). “Jesus focused so much on helping the poor and the downtrodden and the least among us. And I think his refocusing on that, to me, has been a breath of fresh air.”

Former Rep. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania said Francis is a “game-changer” for “social justice Democrats.” He sees opportunities for the pope’s message to play out during budget battles and fights over unemployment benefits and other social programs.

“A lot of Catholic Democrats like myself have made it our life’s mission to give voice to those who go without, and those who are the least among us — the folks who rely on food stamps and public education,” Murphy said. “Knowing he’s in our corner gives us a lot of confidence that we’re doing the right thing.”

Obama even gave a nod to the pontiff during a recent high-profile speech on economic mobility.

“[This] trend toward growing inequality is not unique to America’s market economy,” Obama said earlier this month. “Across the developed world, inequality has increased. Some of you may have seen just last week, the pope himself spoke about this at eloquent length. ‘How can it be,’ he wrote, ‘that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?’”

Chester Gillis, a theology professor and a dean at Georgetown University, said that while the pope may be deeply inspiring to millions, he is also likely to weigh in on a slew of issues over the long haul, and not all of his opinions will unite American Catholics, much less lawmakers.

“I love this pope, but I would not exaggerate the influence he’s going to have on American political discourse,” Gillis said. “I don’t think it’ll be heavily influential.”

The U.S. church has come a long way since John F. Kennedy, who would become America’s first Catholic president, had to make assurances that he wouldn’t take orders from the Vatican.

More than 50 years later, American Catholic bishops are influential voices in the political debate. They were especially visible in clashes over elements of the Affordable Care Act. Some expressed concern — and have pursued lawsuits — over the mandates for coverage of contraception, which they argued would force their institutions to violate their religious beliefs. At the same time, Obama won the Catholic vote twice, fueled in part last year by strong support among Hispanic Catholics.

Gillis said he doesn’t expect Francis to encourage bishops to weigh in as vocally as they have in the past on sensitive social issues, though he noted they will still likely speak out.

For some lawmakers, the pope’s influence has gone beyond policy and politics and into the personal. McCaskill, for instance, said some of her children are now considering going back to the church.

“They were raised in the Catholic Church. They had basically kind of walked away, because a lot of the really very conservative hierarchy in this country — they didn’t feel as welcome,” she said. “Now, I think they feel more welcome. At this time of year, I don’t know if you get any better than that: Your kids feel better about the church.”